Princeton 'Roadies' offer support, friendship

Sep. 21, 2012

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'Band roadie' Holly Ford, right, sews a snap that came off of Regina Dench's uniform. / The Enquirer/Tony Jones

FRIDAY NIGHT SIGHTS

A weekly series featuring some of the people, places and traditions that encompass the game-time atmosphere of area high school football. If you have a story suggestion, email bcieslewicz@enquirer.com.

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SHARONVILLE — You might say she’s a one-person drill team. Of the 130-plus people who marched toward Princeton High’s Viking Stadium on a recent Friday night, Kim Kane was the only one who actually had a drill.

It was a cordless model. She carried it in one hand while pulling a portable sound system with the other.

“Have drill, will travel,” she said.

An hour before kickoff, a drum cadence accompanied Princeton’s marching band as it moved into the stadium for the first home football game of the season.

Kane and several other moms and dads – most of them wearing red T-shirts that said “Proud Parent” and “Band Roadie” – brought up the rear.

The roadies are key cogs in the well-oiled marching band machine.

They do whatever’s needed at home and away games, be it loading and unloading instruments, making last-minute uniform repairs, positioning podiums for the drum majors, passing out plumes (the feathery decorations on band hats) or setting up a 30-foot-long banner that proclaims the “Pride of Princeton” Marching Band.

“I love my band parents,” said Todd Leonhardt, who’s in his 11th year as band director. “They know what to do and when to do it.”

“It frees our hands so we can work with the kids,” said assistant director Becky Brown.

Students appreciate the roadies, too.

“It’s extra helpful to have a bunch of people who care about all these kids,” said Jasmine Glanton, a member of the dance team that performs with the band. “It’s really nice they take time out of their lives to help us out.”

Head roadie Steve Culver has been helping out for eight years, ever since his trombone-playing daughter Sarah, who graduated in 2009, was a freshman. His son Brad, a junior, plays trumpet.

Before the march to the stadium, Culver and other roadies were on hands and knees, unrolling the huge Pride of Princeton banner and wiping it clean.

Such tasks might seem mundane. But as another roadie, Dana Adams, noted, Culver “goes out of his way to promote spirit and camaraderie in the group.”

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He started a “theme night” tradition. On a given Friday, the roadies bring their favorite salsas and chips, and in Culver’s case, the hotter the salsa, the better.

“It’s not for the band,” Culver said. “It’s for the roadies and (band) directors, just as a little extra ‘thank you.’ It gives the roadies something to look forward to.”

This night, the roadies’ duties include carrying large pieces of PVC pipe from the school to the stadium. The pipe forms the framework so the Pride of Princeton banner can be properly displayed behind the end zone where the band sits.

Kane wields the all-important hand-held drill. It’s used to make new holes in the pipe if, during assembly, things don’t align quite right.

Even though her daughter graduated two years ago, Kane is still a roadie.

What’s more, Kane said, a big benefit of being a roadie is the friendships that form among parents.

“It’s a bunch of people who enjoy each other’s company,” said roadie Rebecka Adams.

Just as the band and roadies entered the stadium, ominous storm clouds appeared. That led to some roadie recollections of memorable drenchings.

“Do you remember the Northmont game?” Holly Ford, another veteran roadie, asked Kane. “We had all the instruments under the buses.”

“I was under a bus,” Kane said.

Culver insisted the clouds wouldn’t burst this night. He had, after all, performed the roadie rain dance.

Maybe he should have thrown in a move or two to ward off lightning. When flashes appeared midway through the first quarter, officials postponed the game. That meant no halftime show.

But the band did perform for pre-game, with Culver and the other roadies watching and listening from the sideline, secure in the knowledge that there will be more chances for the young musicians to shine. As Culver put it: “Friday nights just wouldn’t be Friday night football without a marching band.”